It’s hard to believe we once saw Bill as the pie-splattered villain, and others as the idealists. And it’s hard to understand why, even now, the entrepreneur whom our youth admire far more than Bill Gates is someone who has had great commercial success but little interest in the world around him.

Missing from this account is the fact that the courts found that Microsoft repeatedly broke the law. Other companies, more widely admired, did not break the law. Perhaps Microsoft, and Bill Gates, are held in low regard because some people feel like they cheated?